What became an annoying intrusion in the movie, an oversaturation of back-to-back '70s hit songs to signify the era in "Now and Then," makes for a fairly entertaining soundtrack album, leaning heavily on bubble-gum material. But it is nostalgic to hear the Jackson 5 on "I'll Be There," the Archies' "Sugar, Sugar," Badfinger's "No Matter What" and Freda Payne belting out "Band of Gold." The lone new track is Susanna Hoffs on the OK title tune.
"Virtuosity" contains a wide, if uneven mix of musical styles, from industrial rock to electronic to something just the other side of disco. The cuts range from interesting pieces (Fatima Mansions' "The Loyaliser," William Orbit's "Into the Paradise") to those that are woefully self-indulgent (Traci Lords' "Fallen Angel"). But the mix of styles somehow comes together fairly well, the result being chaotic but listenable, though certainly not exceptional."Strange Days" is equally loud, chaotic and offbeat, mixing metal, alternative, hip-hop and whatever it is that actress Juliette Lewis is doing on "Hardly Wait." Best are Ray Manzarek's reworking of "Strange Days" with Prong, about as far removed as possible from the original version by Jim Morrison and the Doors (Manzarek was the Doors' keyboardist); Kate Gibson is appropriately melancholy on Leonard Cohen's "Dance Me to the End of Love," which is also the approach of Lori Carson & Graeme Revell's "Fall in the Light." Songs by Lords of Acid, Tricky and Skunk Anansie are matters of taste, of course. Mine tends to go in a different direction.
Composer Pino Donaggio is best known for his collaborations with Brian De Palma ("Dressed to Kill," "Carrie," "Body Double"), and while his lush, tense orchestrations are usually effective in the context of the films, they tend to be redundant on the albums. Donaggio's music for "Never Talk to Strangers" is alternately romantic and scary - sometimes in the same piece - but the opening theme is merely a variation on "Dressed to Kill." And it doesn't help that the non-Donaggio cuts are equally uneven, ranging from the mediocre "Her Body Makes Vows" by Exchange and the even less-inspiring "A Girl Like You" from Edwyn Collins - to songs that aren't even in the movie (a cover of Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing" by The Nylons, China's "Come and Get It," "At Last" by Tina Moore [a cover of the old Etta James ballad] and "Gwen Swick's "I Should Feel Empty")! What's that about? The Barstool Prophets' "Paranoia" is fun, though, as is "A Mover La Colita" by Artie the 1 Man Party.
"The Big Green," aimed at youngsters who enjoyed the movie, includes music that ranges from OK ("I Believe in You," by Niki Haris) to mediocre (the BoDeans' "Fadeaway") to barely listenable (Jeff Paris and the the Immigrants doing "As Long As We Can Walk"). Just to mix it up, there's also Willie Nelson's overused "On the Road Again," as well as eight cuts from Randy Edelman's redundant, recycled score.
RATINGS: four stars (* * * * ), excellent; three stars (* * * ), good; two stars (* * ), fair; one star (* ), poor, with 1/2 representing a higher, intermediate grade.